What Fresh Hell is This?: Opening Day 2019 for the Philadelphia Union
Where were you in 2010? When gas was 2.73 a gallon and postage was 44 cents. When over a trillion dollars was lost in the 36 minute “flash crash” and the defending MLS champions were Real Salt Lake. When I had hair down to my shoulders and a beard that made Billy Gibbons jealous, and when the Philadelphia Union took the field for the first time. And lost to the Seattle Sounders.
Man, some things never change.
For here I am, on the banks of the Delaware River again, as I was last year, and, for all I my frozen brain can remember, where I may have been ten years ago, covering the opening day for the Philadelphia Union. And to be sure it’s not as cold as last year’s kick off when they beat the New England Revolution, but it’s cold enough that my fingers are losing feeling as they type my notes during the game. A game that sees Andre Blake stop a penalty kick, prompting all of us gathered here to wonder if this would be a harbinger of deliverance for the Union. A game that also sees Michael Bradley score a brace, putting all those dreams and hopes to bed for another day for the Sons of Ben. A game that sees Philadelphia’s new Designated Player, Marco Fabian score his first goal as a member of the Union. A game that sees the Union end the game two goals short of their friends from the Great White North — friends who, it should be noted, had played a frosty CONCACAF champions league match in Toronto only 3 days before against Independiente, had gotten stomped by Independiente in Panama only two weeks earlier, and did not even make the playoffs last season.
All in all, not an auspicious start to the season.
A sentiment which was echoed to me by myriad fans who were more than willing to share their frustrations as we walked back to our cars in the shadow of the Commodore Barry bridge and the darkening gloom of Chester, Pennsylvania.
But here’s the thing. Despite the loss, despite the sloppy play, despite the fact that in some respects, it should have been much worse (Jonathan Osorio should have put that PK away in the first half and how Jordan Hamilton didn’t score when he had the chance remains a mystery to me), the fact remains that it was opening day. And opening day is a day of hope.
